Ladder stool



C. W. HARRISON March 24, 1953 LADDER STOOL;

3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 17, "1950 I? 1121? to) (bar/es Afar soreMarch 24, 1953 c. w. HARRISON LADDER STOOL Filed Oct. 17, 1950 5Sheets-She et 2- n m/mag E 25 3 M 3M 2 March 24, 1953 c. w. HARRISONLADDER STOOL 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Oct. 17, 1950 112 1/27? for Char/esW. J? r1290]:

Patented Mar. 24, 1953 LADDER STOOL Charles W. Harrison, Warsaw, Ind.,assignor to Arnolt Corporation, Warsaw, Ind., a corporation of IndianaApplication October 17, 1950, Serial No. 190,595

4 Claims. (Cl. 22830) This invention relates to household furniture and.particularly to convertible stools adapted for kitchen and otherhousehold use.

Stools of the aforesaid character are usually made with a seat supportedby four downwardly heretofore constructed have been objectionable eitherby reason of lack of stability or because of the high cost involvedwhere the desired degree of stability was attained, and it is theprimary object of this invention to improve and simplify theconstruction of such stools in such a way that stability and rigidity ofstructure may be attained without excessive cost.

In the use of stools of the aforesaid character it is recognized thatthe provision of a back on such stools, would be advantageous, but inthe past, the provision of a back has been relatively complicated andhas been considered to be too expensive because it required themanufacture of two different stool structures. It is thereforeanotherobject of this invention to enable a ladder stool to be soconstructed and arranged that it may be made either with or without aback structure and a related object is to enable the back on such astool to be readily and easily put in place without modification of theparts used in a backless stool. I

Other and further objects of the present invention will be apparent fromthe following description and claims and are illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, which, by way of illustration, show a preferredembodiment and the principles thereof and what I now consider to be thebest mode in which I have contemplated applying those principles. IOther embodiments of the invention embodying the same or equivalentprinciples may be used and structural changes may be made as desired bythose skilled in the art without departing from the present inventionand the purview of the appended claims.

In the drawings: Fig. 1 is a perspective view-of a ladder stoolembodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the frame elements that makeup thestool, certain of the parts being shown in a separated or spacedrelaion;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view showing the pivotstructure for the ladder;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view showing'the way in which the ladder issupported;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the frame; and

Fig. 6 is a side view of the frame.

For purposes of disclosure the invention is herein illustrated asembodied in a ladder-stool I 0 having a seat I I, tubular metal frontand rear legs I2 and I3 secured to and supporting the seat II, aspreader bar structure I4 connecting and spacing the legs, and a pivotedstep structure I5 disposed between the front legs l2 for swingingmovement between the forwardly projecting operative position of Fig. 1and a protected or stored position beneath the seat II, as indicated indotted outline in Fig. 6; and under the present invention as hereinafterdescribed, the stool I0 may be provided with a back If; in a simplemanner which does not involve change or revision of the main stoolstructure.

The rear legs I3 are formed as integral elements of a generally U-shapedmember I I3, that is formed from a single piece of tubing as shown inFig. 2 so asto afford a horizontal front cross bar I I3A joined at itsopposite ends by smooth bends or arcuate portions 313 to parallelrearwardly projecting portions I I 36, and at their rear ends, theportions II3C are joined by downward bends I I3D to the upper ends ofthe rear legs.

The front legs I2 are separately formed from tubing in a generallyinverted L-shape, as shown in Fig. 2, thus to afford an upper rearwardlyprojecting portion I IZC that is joined at its forward end to the upperend of the related leg I 2 by a relatively large "radius downward bendII2B. The portions II2C"of the legs I2 are disposed along the inner oradjacent sides of the portions H30 and are rigidly secured thereto as bybrazing or welding, and the relation is such that the open rear ends ofthe portions II2C terminate forwardly of the bends II3D, thus to belocated in a concealed relation to the seat I I which is secured to theleg structure by screws IIS, Fig. 4, that are passed upwardly throughopening I I2E formed in the portions I I2C.

The spreader bar I4 is formed from a single elongated piece of materialwhich in the present case is afforded by tubing bent to a generallyU-shaped form to afforda rear bar II 4R. that is joined by forwardhorizontal bends II4A to the rear ends of parallel forwardly projectingside bars I I 48, and at their forward ends the side 7 bars 48 are bentinwardly at IMF to afford aligned projecting bearing ends II4B that facetoward each other to provide pivoted bearing supports for the stepstructure I as will be described. Where the spreader bar I4 is formedfrom tubing, the ends that thus face each other are open so that theirinternal surfaces may afford. bearings. The spreader bar structure I5 isdisposed within the space between the several legs I2 and I3, and in ahorizontal position, and the bends I I4A are secured rigidly to therespective rear legs I3 as by brazing or welding, while the bends I I4Fare similarly secured to the front legs I2.

The step structure I5 is formed from tubin to afford a mounting for alower step I 5L and an upper step I5U, as shown in Fig. 1, theproportioning of the parts being such that the lower step I5L isdisposed at a height equal to substantially one-third of the height ofthe seat II, while the upper step I5U is located at about two-thirds ofthe height of the seat II. Thus the step structure comprises a pair ofsimilar frame members 5 formed from tubing to provide an upwardlyextending leg II5L that is of a length substantially equal to thespacing of the spreader bar I4 from the lower ends of the legs I2 andI3. At its upper end each leg II5L is joined by a rearward bend I I5A toa horizontal step support portion 53 which projects rearwardly for adistance substantially equal to twice the width of the step I5L, and inthe forward part of the por tion II5B, openings I I 50 are providedthrough which attaching screws II5D may be extended upwardly to securethe step I5L in position. At its rear end eachportion II5B is joined byan upward bend II5E to a riser portion I I5F, and at its upper end eachriser portion is joined by a forward bend I I 5G to the rear end of aforwardly projecting upper step support portion II5H. Each step supportportion I I5H extends forwardly for a distance, substantially equal tothe width of the upper step I5U which is secured in place on the portionI I'5H by screws I I5J extended upwardly through openings II5K formed inthe portion II5H.

In assembly of the members II 5, a tie bar I I 5T is extended across theouter, or rearward and lower, sides of the bends H53! and is rigidlysecured thereto as by brazing or welding. This is done in such a waythat the corresponding parts of the two members II5 are parallel, andthe tie rod II5T is disposed so as to be perpendicular to the spacedplanes in which members I I5 are located. The arrangement is such thatthe tie bar II5T is somewhat longer than the distance between the openbearing ends II4B of the spreader I4, and the members II5 are spacedfrom each other in a distance such that the ends of the tie bar I I 5Tproject somewhat beyond the members I I5, thus to afford projectingbearing elements which are in the form of journals 2I5J. Under thepresent invention the tie bar I.I 5T is made from a circular stockmaterial such as metal tubing that has an outer diameter just slightlyless than the inner diameter of the tubing from which the spreader I4 ismade, and with this arrangement the projecting journals 2I5J may beinserted into the open bearing ends II4B of the spreader I4, thus toafford a pivotal mounting for the step structure I5. It will be obviousof course that this pivotal relation is attained by reason of the'telescoped relation of the elements II4B and H5], and that this relationmight be reversed if desuch telescoped relationships, the inner me mightbe of solid cross section rather than tubular. This insertion of thejournals 2I5J into the bearing end II 43 may be readily accomplished byspreading the front legs I2 against the resilient action of the spreaderI4, and in practice this resilient force is found to be ample to retainthe bearings H43 in engagement with the journals 2I5J. The stepstructure I5 may thus be positioned in its operative relation of Fig. 6,or may be pivoted to its dotted line position I5A of Fig. 6, where theend caps of the legs I I5L rest against a stop such as the front bar II-3A.

As hereinabove pointed out, the present invention provides forproduction of the stool In either with or without the back I6, and inaccomplishing this the back It is mounted on a pair of similar L-shapedback supports H6 formed from tubular metal to afford a vertical portionIIBA and a horizontal portion I IBB joined in each instance by a forwardbend IISC which connects the lower end of the portion I I6A to the rearend of the portion I I6B. The vertical portion IIBA has transverse orhorizontal openings I I61) therein for use in securing the back I5 inposition thereon, while each portion IIBB has a vertical opening I|6Etherein for use in fixing the back in position, as will be described.

Under the present invention the tubular stock from which the backsupports H6 are formed is selected to have an outer diameter equal tothe inner diameter of the tubular stock from which the legs I2 areformed, and hence when a back I 6 is to be used, the portions IIBB maybe inserted forwardly into the open rear ends of the portions II2C, asshown in Fig. 4, and when the openings I.I6E are aligned with the rearopening I IZE, the same screws IIS may be passed up wardly through thealigned sets of openings so that the back II is secured in place as anincident to the securing of the seat I I on the leg structure.

It will be obvious, of course, that the upper ends of the back supportelements IIBA may be in the form shown so as to be closed byconventional end closure caps, or may be of a flattened or fishtailform. Moreover, it will be clear that the lower ends of the legs, andthe ends of the members II5 may be similarly closed by decorative endcaps of conventional construction.

From the foregoing description it will be evident that the presentinvention affords a new and improved stool structure wherein a singlebasic unit may be used to afford stools with or without backs, andwherein rigidity of leg and ladder structure is attained by asimple andeconomical arrangement.

Thus, while I have illustrated and described the preferred embodiment ofmy invention, it is to beunderstood, that this is capable of variationand modification, and I therefore donot wish to be limited to theprecise details set forth, but desire to avail myself of such changesand alterations as fall within the purview of the following claims:

I claim:

1. In a ladder-stool, pairs of front and rear legs rigidly connectedtogether at their upper ends, a spreader formed from a metal tube ofpredetermined diameter and bent to a U-shaped form affording a rear barand side bars, and said side bars having their ends bent toward eachother to afford aligned bearing openings facing toward each other, saidspreader being secured to all of said legs with said aligned openingsdissired. Moreover it will be clear that e ther of p ed i a h ZQlI fiI11 13 1 9 1 between said front legs, and a step structure having atransverse pivot means fixed thereto and projecting into said bearingopenings to pivotally support said step structure between said frontlegs.

2. In a ladder-stool, pairs of front and rear legs rigidly connectedtogether at their upper ends, a spreader formed from a metal tube ofpredetermined diameter and bent to a U-shaped form affording a rear barand side bars, and said side bars having their forward ends bent towardeach other to afford aligned bearing openings facing toward each other,said spreader being secured to all of said legs with said alignedopenings disposed between said front legs, a step structure comprising apair of similar frame members each formed from tubular metal and bent toafford a forward leg with a lower step support extended rearwardlytherefrom, a riser element extended upwardly from the rear end of thelower step support, and an upper step support extended forwardly fromthe upper end of said riser, a transverse spacer tube secured to andextended transversely of said frame members at the junctures of saidrisers and said lower step supports and extended beyond said members toafford bearing journals, said journals projecting 'into said bearingopenings to pivotally support said step structure between said frontlegs.

3. In a ladder-stool, pairs of front and rear legs rigidly connectedtogether at their upper ends, a spreader member formed from a metalstock of circular cross section and bent to a U-shaped form affording arear bar and'forwardly extended side bars, and said side bars havingtheir forward ends bent toward each other to afford aligned bearingelements facing toward each other, said spreader being secured to all ofsaid legs with said bearing elements disposed on a horizontal axisbetween said front legs, and a step structure having a transverse pivotmember formed from metal stock of circular cross section and fixedthereto to afford projecting elements, one of said members being formedof tubular stock having an internal diameter just larger than theexternal diameter of the other of said members, and the bearin elementsof said other of said members being extended into the open ends of thebearing elements of said one of said members to pivotally support saidstep structure between said front legs.

4. In a ladder-stool, pairs of front and rear legs rigidly connectedtogether at their upper ends, a spreader member formed from material ofcircular cross section and bent to a U-shaped form affording a rear barand side bars, and said sidebars having their forward ends bent towardeach other to afford aligned bearing elements facing toward each other,said spreader being secured to all of said legs with said alignedbearing elements disposed between said front legs, a step structurecomprising a pair of similar frame members each formed from metal andbent to afford a forward leg with a lower step support extendedrearwardly therefrom, a riser element extended upwardly from the rearend of the lower step support, and an upper step support extendedforwardly from the upper end of said riser, a transverse spacer memberformed of material of circular cross section and secured to and extendedtransversely of said frame members at the junctures of said risers andsaid lower step supports and extended beyond said members to affordbearing elements, one of said members being formed from tubular stockhaving an internal diameter substantially the same as the outer diameterof the other member so that the bearing elements of said one member haveopen ends and internal bearing surfaces, and the bearing elements ofsaid other member being extended into said open ends to pivotallysupport said step structure between said front legs.

CHARLES W. HARRISON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Gelmanet a1. Apr. 3, 1951

